


Crashing Through Fences In Your Name

by littlebitlostandfound



Category: Six - Marlow/Moss
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Sick Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-21
Updated: 2020-04-21
Packaged: 2021-03-02 03:27:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,168
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23768476
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/littlebitlostandfound/pseuds/littlebitlostandfound
Summary: When Cathy falls sick, Anne takes care of Mae until she gets better.
Relationships: Anne Boleyn/Catherine Parr
Comments: 3
Kudos: 61





	1. Chapter 1

It was only three in the morning and Mae wakes up to an empty bed.

Mae rubs the sleep from her eyes, hauling herself down and bringing her stuffed doll with her in search of her mum. She steps out of their room and sees the door of the bathroom wide open, the light escaping from the doorframe. She walks towards it and was surprised to find Cathy hunched over the toilet bowl, vomiting what little she ate that day.

“Mama!” Mae gasps, stepping inside the bathroom but Cathy holds her hand out, makes her stay away from her. She heaves once more, making sure she gets it all out of her system before wiping her mouth with the back of her hand and slumping back against the wall.

Mae looks around, and she steps up on her stool to fill up her gargle cup on the sink with water. She carefully steps down and walks slowly towards her mother. Sweat mats her hair against her forehead despite her shivering from the cold, and Mae doesn’t know if she should wake anyone up to help.

“Spit.” Mae holds out her cup to her, and Cathy almost loses grip of it, the room spinning. She manages to take a swig from the cup and sloshes it around her mouth before spitting into the bowl. Mae takes the cup and puts it back on the sink before stepping nearer her mother.

“Let’s go back to the room, Mama,” Mae whispers, taking Cathy’s clammy hand and trying to pull her up to kneel. Her vision tunnels and all she sees are spinning colors now, but Mae’s voice grounds her, never mind how distant it sounds.

“Where are you, baby?” Cathy whimpers almost pathetically as she shuts her eyes and sits back down. She feels delirious now as she can’t focus her eyes on anything, doesn’t trust herself to stand up because her stomach might lurch again or she might trip and fall, and–

Oh. There she is.

Her thoughts cut off when Mae straddles Cathy’s waist and wraps her arms around her neck, and Cathy cocoons herself around her daughter, holding her impossibly tighter.

“I’m so sorry for waking you,” Cathy sniffles, rolling her head back to rest against the tiled wall. “You’re…hmm…please sleep with Anne tonight.”

“But mama–,”

“I’m sick, baby, I don’t want you getting what I have,” Cathy cuts off, despite every bone in her body wanting her source of comfort close to her at all times. “Go to her now, I’ll find my way back.”

Mae snuggles a bit before standing up from their embrace. She quickly leaves the bathroom and knocks quietly but frantically on Anne’s door, opening after a few seconds.

“What’s the matter?” Anne asks as she yawns, crouching down to Mae’s level.

“Can you get Mama please? I can’t carry her, she’s in the bathroom.” Mae almost cries. Anne immediately sobers up and they both head back to the bathroom, where she finds Cathy near passed out on the floor.

“Jesus, Cathy,” Anne mutters under her breath, quickly maneuvering Cathy’s limp form and picking her up from the ground. She wakes a bit at this, and she frowns.

“I need…Mae, please…can you,” Cathy struggles to finish her thoughts as Anne carries her back to her room.

“I’ve got her tonight, don’t worry,” Anne reassures, placing her back on the bed and tucking her under the covers. Mae comes in the room and places her rag doll under Cathy’s arm.

“You keep her first, okay?” Mae says, stepping back. Anne picks her up and carries her back to her room, lying down in the middle of the bed to make space for Mae.

“What’s happening?” Elizabeth asks drowsily, waking up from being moved slightly aside. Anne hushes her and opens up her arm, letting her cuddle against her side.

“Just went to the bathroom for a bit, Mae’s with us tonight. Go back to sleep, darling,” Anne whispers, kissing her forehead. Mae already has her arm around Anne’s middle, her head resting in the crook between her chest and shoulder. “And that goes for you, too. You’ve had a long night, Mae. It’s a good thing you woke me up.”

Mae hums in reply, her fingers toying with the buttons on Anne’s pyjama top. “Is mama gonna be okay?”

“She’s really sick tonight, and she’ll be needing a lot of rest tomorrow. But she’ll be okay, I promise.” Anne explains, not wanting to let Mae’s hopes up of Cathy being back to normal in the morning.

“I gave her my dolly so she won’t be alone in the room,” Mae starts sadly. Anne strokes her hair, hoping it gets her drowsy. “She might get sad that I’m not there.”

“That’s very nice of you, Mae,” Anne affirms, nodding down to kiss the crown of her head. “It’s really late, try to get some sleep and we can try to visit your mama a bit later in the morning, okay?”

“When the sun’s up?”

“That’s right.”

“Okay,” Mae yawns, her eyelids finally fluttering close. Anne exhales as she lets herself drift off as well–she’s lost circulation in both her arms from the two heads on her shoulders, but she’ll be okay.

She just hopes that Cathy will be, too.


	2. Chapter 2

Mae doesn’t sleep well that night. She couldn’t toss or turn with Anne’s arm around her waist, but she tries her best to pry it off so she could tiptoe back to their room.

“Hi Mae,” She hears Elizabeth yawn quietly, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. “Where ya goin’?” 

“Back to Mama’s room, she’s sick,” Mae responds, managing to snake away from Anne’s hold and down to the floor. “Annie said I can go back in the morning.”

“Mum wouldn’t like that, I think she made you sleep here so you can’t get sick too,” Elizabeth reasons, stepping down to the floor as well. “She’ll get better, though. We can share my mum today, I don’t mind.” 

“Do I call her mum today, too?” Mae asks innocently, yawning a bit and Elizabeth walks over to her side, nodding as she smooths Mae’s hair down.

“Of course!” Elizabeth affirms, and Mae grins despite her lack of sleep. She takes her hand and leads her downstairs for breakfast. 

Anne cracks her eyes open when she hears the door close, smiling to herself after listening in to the girls—her girls—talking. It was something that she’ll have to bring up with Cathy for sure, but for now, she’ll gladly accept that she has two daughters for the day.

Downstairs, the girls settle in their chairs while Jane puts a large plate of waffles in the middle of the table. 

“You two look chipper this morning,” Jane comments, placing a waffle on Mae’s plate and cutting it up for her into bite sized pieces. “Where’s Cathy? You two usually go down together.” 

“She’s sick,” Elizabeth answers for her, talking while chewing through a mouthful of waffle.

“And you shouldn’t be talking with your mouth full,” Anne interrupts, walking towards Elizabeth and tapping her nose. Anne leans down anyway to kiss the crown of her head, and does the same with Mae, making her pause mid-chew. Anne just chuckles and turns her attention to Jane. “Mae woke me up in the middle of the night, Cathy was almost passed out in the bathroom. I had to carry her back to her room but I haven’t checked in with her yet this morning.”

As Anne talks, she fixes herself a plate of waffles and another one with toast to bring up to Cathy. 

“She looked okay yesterday so I have no idea what got her so sick—do you think it was something she ate?” Aragon asks, frowning at her goddaughter’s predicament. She thinks back to what they’ve done the day before and she couldn’t pinpoint to a specific moment.

“Not sure, but I hope she’s feeling better today,” Anne says, placing the plate of toast and a mug of tea on a tray, along with some medicine and a glass of water. She looks at Elizabeth and Mae reaching for their second helping of waffles, and she catches Anna’s gaze, silently pleading ‘keep an eye on the syrup’. 

Anna laughs and does a small salute before taking the bottle from Mae’s sticky hands. Anne makes her way upstairs and knocks on Cathy’s door, not bothering to wait for a response. 

“Hey, love. Feeling any better? You had a rough night,” Anne asks, setting the tray down on the bedside table and sitting on the bed. Cathy groans, squinting her eyes open. She struggles to sit up and Anne quickly helps prop her back against the headboard.

“Hmm, a bit better. Thanks for bringing me back,” Cathy hums, leaning her head on Anne’s shoulder. Anne buries her nose in the crown of her head, closing her eyes a bit. “How’s Mae? Sorry for the short notice, I really can’t have her sick as much as I want her with me.” 

“Hey, don’t worry about that,” Anne reassures, taking Cathy’s hand and intertwining her fingers with hers. “I’ve got it under control. You need to rest, love. I promise I’ll let her see you if you’re feeling better tonight.”

“Tonight? You’re not doing the show?” Cathy frowns. Anne furrows her eyebrows. 

“Of course not. Who’s going to be taking care of you?” Anne asks, as if it wasn’t obvious that she was clearly not letting her stay at home alone. “It’s okay, I promise. You’d do the same for me.” 

“That’s true.” Cathy nods before coughing into her elbow. Anne takes that as her cue to stand and sets the tray down on Cathy’s lap. 

“Here, you’ll need at least something to fill your stomach before you drink your meds,” Anne instructs, leaning forward to kiss her girlfriend on the forehead. “I’m planning on taking the girls out this afternoon, any suggestions?”

“Oh, if you don’t mind, I always take Mae to the storytelling sessions at the library. I’ll text you the details—she really likes listening in to those, and it might be something Lizzie would be interested in.” Cathy says, tentatively biting into a piece of toast in case her stomach rejects it.

“I’ll make sure to swing by,” Anne smiles. “I need to go back down, they must be drowning their waffles in syrup now.” 

Cathy laughs hoarsely, clearing her throat after. “Go on, mum of the year. Save the day for me.” 

“You know I will.” 

Anne makes her way downstairs and notices that everyone else has left the table except for her daughter, Mae, and Jane, who was keeping an eye on the younger one as she eats.

“Eat up, Anne, I’ve set your plate aside,” Jane says, pushing her waffles in front of her and she thanks her before sitting down in front of the girls. 

“Is Mama okay now?” Mae asks immediately after swallowing her last bite of food.

“She’s still quite sick but she’s feeling a bit better compared to last night. We can try seeing her later tonight, okay?” Anne negotiates, and Mae’s mood immediately dampens.

“But you said morning.” Mae argues, her bottom lip already jutting out. Jane’s eyes widen a bit before looking at Anne, wanting to see how this plays out. 

“I know, darling,” Anne stammers for a bit, her tone as soft as possible. “But Cathy didn’t want to see you until–,” 

“What?” Mae interjects, her eyes already brimming with tears. Anne immediately kicks herself at her poor word choice and she walks over to her side to pick Mae up into her arms. 

“No, no, I’m sorry, I didn’t think about my words properly. What I meant was that even though she’s feeling a bit better, she’s still pretty sick. You remember the last time you got the flu, right?” Anne waits before Mae nods her head to continue. “Well, little kids can get sick really easily, faster than us adults. So your Mama’s just being extra careful with you. Do you understand?”

Mae nods again, wiping her tears away with her balled up fists. Mae wraps her arms around Anne’s neck and she keeps her hand splayed against her back, stroking it gently. She meets Jane’s eyes and she just gives her a nod of approval and a thumbs up, making her chuckle.

It was going to be a long day. 


	3. Chapter 3

“Lizzie, Mae, shoes on, let’s go.” 

Socked little feet pad across the floor and towards where Anne stands by the door, checking the details that Cathy had given her on her phone. Elizabeth puts on her trainers quickly before squatting down and helping Mae with the velcro straps on hers. 

“Where are you guys off to?” Katherine asks from the living room, and Anne kneels down first to button Mae’s cardigan. 

“Just to the library, we’ll be back right after.” Anne answers, and she looks at Mae with a mischievous glint in her eye. “And maybe get some cookies while we’re at it.” 

Elizabeth catches the second part, her head whipping towards her mother. She mouths a ‘really?’ and Anne just nods with a small smile. Elizabeth squeals happily as she wraps her arms around Mae. 

“You need to come with us more often.” Elizabeth grins, releasing her from the hug but taking her hand instead. Anne shakes her head and looks over Katherine, staring at her with pleading eyes. 

“You know I’ve never come home without bringing you one, right?” Anne laughs, opening the door to let Elizabeth and Mae walk ahead. “We’ll see you in a bit!” 

They walk a few blocks to the nearest station and take the tube going into the city, making sure that she has a girl holding on to each hand. Thankfully the carriage they got on wasn’t completely crowded, allowing them to take their seats. 

“I don’t like the tube,” Mae expresses quietly, trying to sit as close to Anne as possible as she looks at her surroundings warily. Anne puts an arm around her, squeezing her shoulder lightly. 

“It’s a bit overwhelming, isn’t it? I didn’t like it the first time, but it’s the fastest way to get around,” Anne offers, acknowledging her discomfort. Meanwhile, Elizabeth opted to stand in front of the two of them, holding on to the middle post for balance. 

They make it to their stop and Anne stands up immediately, leading the girls out before they get closed in. The trio walks the short distance from the station to the library, arriving just a few minutes before scheduled.

Anne quickly brings them to the children’s section of the library, allowing them to choose a spot for the storytelling. Elizabeth claims a large beanbag and Mae giggles as she rushes to sit next to her. Anne sits on the floor next to the girls, and Mae quietly transfers herself on to her lap.

“I sit like this with Mama,” Mae clarifies in a whisper, and when Anne doesn’t catch her words, she quickly doubts her forwardness and makes a motion to stand. Anne shakes her head and coaxes her back down to her lap, wrapping her arms around her middle. 

“I’m sorry, darling. Got lost for a minute there,” Anne chides herself for not paying attention. “You can sit with me like this, no worries.”

Elizabeth, seeing the pair, scoots over to the edge of the beanbag and leans her body against her mother’s shoulder, and Anne turns her head with a smile, kissing her cheek.

“Squeeze in here, let’s send a picture to Cathy,” Anne grins, taking her phone out from her pocket and snapping a quick selfie of the three of them. She sends it to Cathy through a text. 

**_Look mama we made it!_ **

Anne keeps her phone perched on her thigh. The storytelling session starts on time, and a few moments later, she sees the screen light up with a notification. She unlocks her phone and chuckles at Cathy’s response, which was a photo of her lying down on the bed with an exaggerated pout. 

**_Wish I was there. Give them kisses for me. Have fun!_ **

Seeing the girls still paying attention to the storyteller, she manages a response, sending a short video of her with Mae staring straight on and pans to her left with Elizabeth bouncing on the beanbag. 

**_Let’s go back with the girls. And I will, I’ll even save some for ya. ;) Love you hope you’re resting x_ **

Cathy’s reply comes instantly.

**_Yes please. I love you too xxx_ **

With a giddy smile, she puts away her phone and listens along to the story teller, playing along and noticing how her daughter enthusiastically participates in the interactive bits of the story while Mae remained on her lap, choosing to listen from where she was sitting.

Anne feels her throat close up at the story being read aloud—titled _Mama, Do You Love Me?_ , which was rather appropriate, actually—and doesn’t realize that she’s already been crying at the message of the story until she feels Elizabeth reaching out to give her a hug. 

“Oh, sorry, love,” Anne wipes at her tears, nuzzling her nose against her daughter’s cheek. 

“…because you are my Dear One. The end! If you’ve got your mummies around, could you go to them and let them know that you love them?” The storyteller ends, prompting the children to disperse and go to their respective mothers. Elizabeth wraps her arms around Anne’s shoulders tighter while Mae stands up from her place on her lap and hugs her from the other side, kissing her cheek.

“I love you, Mummy,” Elizabeth whispers, and Anne’s heart grips, she hasn’t heard her call her that for the longest time. She manages to wrap her arms around the both of them, hugging them closer. 

“I love you too, darling,” Anne smiles, peppering her face with kisses. Mae, despite clinging to Anne, looks on shyly before burying her face in her shoulder. “And how could I forget about you, little one? I love you.”

Mae looks up with a shy smile, her voice barely above a whisper. “I love you too, Mummy.”

Anne manages to keep herself from bursting into tears, smiling genuinely and making sure that Mae knows that she’ll accept whatever she ends up calling her. They stay together for a few more moments before standing up and stretching her legs.

“Come on, let’s go home,” Anne says, holding her hands out for each girl to grab. They swing their arms as they exit the library, and Elizabeth quickly stops in her tracks before they could go any closer to the station. 

“Mum! I almost forgot, you promised cookies!” Elizabeth gasps, and Mae quickly looks up at Anne with a surprised look on her face.

“Have I? I don’t seem to remember,” Anne jokingly denies, teasing an already exasperated Elizabeth. 

“You did! I remember, you told Mae and I asked and you said yes!” Elizabeth insisted, and Anne only laughs, ruffling her hair.

“Of course I remember, silly. I’m not a monster,” Anne says, earning a little giggle from Mae. They make their way to a nearby dessert place and orders a regular chocolate chip cookie for each of them, and another assorted dozen for to go. Elizabeth and Mae sit across her as they devour their treats, and Anne takes a couple photos of the two. 

“Smile, girls!” Anne snaps an adorable shot of the two of them grinning from ear to ear with crumbs and melted chocolate smeared around their mouths. Anne sets the photo as her lock screen and sends it to Cathy before passing a small wad of tissues towards them. 

Her phone buzzes with a text from Cathy, and another picture of her lying down on the bed, seemingly knocked out. 

**_I’m dead, that’s the sweetest photo. Remind me to print and frame it <3_ **

Anne chuckles and sends a sneaky video of Elizabeth wiping her mouth and then taking another tissue from the table to wipe Mae’s. 

**_Here’s a bit more sweetness for you x_ **

Cathy doesn’t immediately reply, allowing Anne to split her own cookie in half and take a couple bites from it. Elizabeth eyes the other half, and she pushes it forward towards them. 

“Share.” Anne instructs, and Elizabeth nods, breaking it further in half and giving one to Mae. 

Anne’s phone pings and she opens their chat. 

**_Anne, I can’t stop watching it. It’s just on loop and I’m here smiling like an idiot on my phone_ **

Anne crafts a swift reply before pocketing her phone and helping the girls wipe their hands.

**_You and me both, love x_ **

Anne lets Elizabeth bring the box of cookies as they exit the dessert shop, heading towards the station and making their way home. They get back at half past four, which meant that the rest of the queens have already left for the theater to prepare for tonight’s show. 

Anne places the cookies on the counter and brings the girls up to her room first to get them changed out of their clothes and into something comfier to settle them down for a nap. She dresses Mae in Elizabeth’s jumper that she’s already grown out of, and tucks them under the covers, pressing a soft kiss on their heads before leaving the room.

She makes her way to Cathy’s room and opens the door to find Cathy lying down on her side, her eyes fluttering open at the sound.

“Sorry if I woke you, just wanted to check in.” Anne says from the door frame, and Cathy uncharacteristically reaches for Anne with grabby hands. The minute Anne lays down on the bed, Cathy immediately snuggles up against her. 

“Feeling much better than this morning, fever’s pretty much gone,” Cathy informs her, and she places a hand on her forehead to make sure. “I think I can join dinner downstairs, I need to see the little one before I go mad.” 

“She missed you terribly, I’m not going to lie. Pretty much quiet the whole time, but she was an absolute angel to take care of.” Anne lets her know, playing with her hair as Cathy has her head buried in the crook of Anne’s neck. “Also, Cathy. You didn’t warn me about the storytelling session, I had no idea I’d get so emotional over a children’s book.”

Cathy laughs softly, wrapping her arms around Anne’s waist to pull her closer. “Was it that ‘mama, do you love me’ one?” 

“Yes! How’d you know? Is that what they read every time?”

“I also cried when I heard that one, I bought the book immediately after and read it more for myself than for Mae. They recycle stories sometimes, but they’re still enjoyable.” Cathy explains, breathing deeply. “I’m glad the girls had fun. I hope you also didn’t have a hard time, I know two can be a bit of a handful.” 

“I quite liked it, actually, felt like I had two daughters,” Anne expresses, and she takes a breath, bracing herself for the talk. “She called me Mummy today, after the storytelling session. I just thought that you’d know. I didn’t tell her to call me that and I can ask her to stop if you’re not comfortable but—“ 

Anne stops at the feeling of Cathy’s lips pressing against her jawline.

“I don’t mind at all. You’ve always mentioned that you love Mae like your own, and I don’t blame her at all for seeing you as her mum,” Cathy smiles. “And, if it ever comes up with Lizzie, I would love her calling me that as well.”

“That went so much better than I thought it would,” Anne exhales, and they laugh a bit before settling into a comfortable silence. They talk a bit more about what they had done today and how Cathy was before they hear a knock on the door.

“Come in,” Cathy calls out, and their girls step in drowsily, clambering up on the bed. Mae, in her sleepy state, snuggles up against Anne instead of Cathy, and Elizabeth shrugs, squeezing herself closer to Cathy. 

“Are you okay now, Mama?” Mae yawns, fluttering her eyes open and blushes when she realizes that she’s Anne’s embrace. Anne chuckles softly as she kisses her forehead. 

“I’m feeling much better now, baby,” Cathy affirms from where she was before wrapping her arms around Elizabeth, resting her chin on the crown of her head. “What about you, Lizzie? Did you have fun today?” 

She feels Elizabeth nod against her chest. She twists her head to look at Anne as if asking for permission, and her encouraging smile was enough to confirm.

“I did, Mama.” Elizabeth whispers, her cheeks flaring red but her smile as bright as day. Cathy exhales the breath she didn’t know she was holding, and a few tears escape from her eyes.

“I’m so glad to hear, love.” 


End file.
